Michaux Offroad Enthusiasts News!

Michaux Offroad Enthusiasts

Latest News as of 2/10/2009

Mark Williams and I were very proud to represent M.O.R.E. at the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials annual representatives meeting held on February 8, 2009. A number of important issues were discussed and put to a vote.

There was a great deal of discussion about how clubs will be assigned MAVT event dates and the number of events. Several people voiced the complaint that 16 events is too many. Many clubs are losing money holding their trials due to low rider turn out. It was decided to leave these things as they have been for the last few years. A club who hosted an event last year has that same weekend reserved for the upcoming year. A new club or a club moving their date will have to choose from a weekend that is not taken. The OHVBSA club announced they will probably only host 2 events for 2010, down from their normal 3 events in the last few years. MAVT will also be holding several events in conjunction with AMA district 6,7 and amazingly the American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association. All MAVT rules will apply at these events. A person who finishes behind a AHRMA rider will receive his MAVT season championship points for that finish behind that rider. To qualify for AHRMA season championship points a rider must be a AHRMA member and pay their membership dues. To qualify for MAVT points a rider needs only pay the event fee and join MAVT which is FREE! The District 7 and 6 "piggyback" events will work much the same way. A rider may very well earn AMA district 6 or 7, AHRMA and MAVT season championship points on the same machine at the same event, assuming your bike meets the class requirements for each organization. I actually finished 2nd on my 1976 Montesa cota in the Vintage C class for MAVT a few years ago but WON! the AMA district 7 modern class. The person who beat me did not sign up for or pay the 5 dollar extra entry fee for AMA district 7. The fees clubs have to pay District 7 have gone up slightly.

Other issues discussed included the addition of a Trials Forum page at the MAVT web site for people to voice their opinions and discuss topics relating to Trials. This is already been started by roger at www.mavt.org

Safety and trials setup was also discussed. Sections should be limited in length. A rider should be able to complete the section in approx. 30 seconds. There will be no accommodations for AHRMA riders. Supposable AHRMA events are easier than MAVT. The sections/events are to be setup for MAVT. Although it was agreed that clubs can if they wish setup a "ZERO" line for a non-trophy Advanced Expert exhibition class (AA). The clubs also agreed to try to make the 1 and 2 line a little easier to encourage 3 and 2 line riders to "move up".

The M.O.R.E. club received several positive comments about how well we hosted Wellsville,PA, Harmony Grove Trials event last year. There were also a couple of suggestions we should try to address this year

1 Boundary tape or split markers should be on it's own stake not on the hazard or obstacle.

2 Boundary tape should be at 12 inches off the ground and it should not be at handle bar or lever height.

3 We should ask for email addresses from participants so a data base can be formed to promote future events.

4 We need to designate a Safety officer/Trials master and post his name and contact numbers etc. at the sign up table. All questions or complaints should be directed to him and not the section checkers.

5 Watch for sharp sticks etc. when clearing the sections. No "Punji" sticks to impale riders. They need to be cut to the ground

The rules concerning numbers plates are not going to be enforced due to the D 7/D 6 and Ahrma piggyback events. The clubs also discussed appropriate trophies for the events and MAVT season championships which was more or less left up to the clubs creativity. This by no means is a complete list of the topics or discussions, but is my best recollection of the happenings. Please check with MAVT,AMA D 7/AMA D 6 or AHRMA for more info. Thanks, Pat Harrington

LATEST NEWS as of 1/25/2009.

I have posted 1 new picture of Mark Williams on the picture page. The photo is of Mark William's vendor spot at the Potomac Vintage Riders Motorcycle swap meet at the York Fairgrounds. It turned out to be a great venue to promote responsible outdoor recreation and The MORE club's upcoming events for calender year 2009. Plans were also made to attend the MAVT meeting for Motorcycle Club's hosting Vintage Trials events for 2009. Thank you from your humble webmaster, Pat Harrington.

THE LATEST NEWS FROM MARK WILLIAMS 11/11/08

MORE club members Jody Eberly, Scott Stewart and Mark Williams assisted in the annual Iron Cross bicycle event this past October. The Iron Cross is one of two races like it in the world. It is a 100 km event that is a combination of road and trail. The MORE members were aboard their dual sport motorcycles serving as lead, chase and "floater". The lead rider stays in front of the leading racer to assure that the arrows are not torn down/directions switched/vandalized. The floater communicates with lead and chase and the contol points, the chase pulls the markers down and directes dnfers the easy way back to the start/finish. There is work and responsibility, but also fun and enjoyment from simply being in the forest on a bike. The old saying is you got to give to get and that is true with dirt bike riding as well. It was a symbiotic relationship as Yellow Breeches racing needed responsible assistence and we needed "woods" time. Keep your ear open for responsible oppertunities to help out with events such as this. Both parties will gain and it will further positive cooperation between user groups. Until next time, Mark Williams ps-and try not to crash cause it hurts like hell!

MORE News! 7/24/08

There are 3 new pictures from the 2008 Harmony Grove MORE club trials event on the "pictures" page. We had 36 riders compete in the event. Amazingly 36 riders also finished. The weather cooperated and a good time was had by all. Right Now. Club President Mark Williams is at the AMA vintage days in Ohio along with Tom Joeseph and Mike Harrington. Maybe we will see some news,pictures etc. from that event. I will try to keep all of us updated. Thank You from your webmaster, Pat Harrington

Trials setup on 5/31/08

Four of us worked on the Harmony Grove Trials Event. There will be 8 sections and probably 4 loops. 3 sections are new from last year. The weeds etc. had really grown up around the sections. We did a lot of weed whacking,trimming and ribbon work. Sign up and Concessions will be in the Barn, same as last year. Camping at the trials is no problem. Tom has promised a campfire/bonfire on Saturday night. Food is available on Sunday. Still are a few wet spots around the loop. We are hoping for good weather in the next few weeks leading up to this event. It is already much,much less wet than year! It should be a lot of fun.

The latest News from M.O.R.E. President Mark Williams:

Again, thank you for your efforts. The MORE club is assisting with a horse race in late May. I'll get something to you so that it can be posted on the web site. I would also like to work with you to have the home page have all the user groups displayed. I'll send the MORE club purpose statement to which should be on the home page. Thank you, Mark

A little "venting" from Mark Williams: The Dakar rally has been cancelled due to Al-Queada terrorist threats on the event. The 30 year old annual event starts in Europe and ends on the eastern coastal area of Africa. It involves motorcycles, cars and trucks. The early years were mostly motorcycles. In the old days it was called "Paris to Dakar" and took almost a month to complete. It truly would seperate the men from the boys, or women from girls. I can still recall the early days when BMW was creating an "adventure" market with their boxer twins and would win against all odds. More than the machines, it was the true determination of the riders that created the victories, and the respect of us "wanabees" around the world. I recall in 1984, Gaston Rahier crashed hard less than half way through the event and snapped his collar bone in half. Using sheet metal screws and thin metal plates, they drilled pilot holes into his bones and attached thin plates to secure the two bone halves together. Periodically injecting pain killer in that area, he raced on through weeks of torture to finish 2nd overall. The little 5'4" man was a hero to me and someone I would think about when I was off the bike pushing through the swamps only 50 miles into the Blackwater 100 with the lightning and thunder crashing down, or struggling through case deep mud during a downpour in a southern Ohio enduro. It doesn't surprise me that they would cave so quickly to any resistance. If you are wondering why you received this, thinking, this doesn't relate to me- Well, it does. The most significant dirt bike race in the world is no more due to radical middle east religion. What is your passion? I'll bet that is on their list of things to end as well. Mark Williams

Help needed.

I hope some of you saw our President "Mark Williams" at his vendor space at the P.V.R. cycle show and swap meet. Also work will continue to take place this spring to get ready for this years Michaux State forest dual sport ride and Harmony Grove trials event. Volunteers may be needed to help with this. Stay tuned for more info.